The adventures of Macharius: Crusade
by son-goku5
Summary: Maximilian Macharius is back and has a new task in front of him. Chapter 8 is up. I'm really sorry for the long pause. Enjoy. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The gates to hell open**

A single pair of Thunderbolt class fighters silently cruised through an unremarkable system doing a routine patrol. The exhaust from their engines glowed a fiery yellow, and maneuvering jets flared briefly as they adjusted course. Sunlight gleamed off the cockpit windows, casting another small, bright point of light into the cosmos. The pilot of one of the Intruders looked up from his control panel to Lantanda, the subsector capital, off in the distance.

"There it is, Norm, our home. I never get tired to looking at it from a distance. Seeing the highly toxic waste clouds whistling over the spires of the hive cities, killing anything living that gets caught in them without a respirator." said Commander Samuel Jarin.

Lt. Commander Norman Vaughn looked over at his wing leader and long time friend's fighter. "Yeah, it always gives me a reason to volunteer for these totally boring patrol missions. After one day on the surface I'm longing for the look of adamantium walls and the emptiness of space."

"Commander Jarin, this is mission control" came a sound through the comm. "Long range sensors are picking up a slight warp disturbance about 300 thousand klicks from your position, close to the asteroid belt. Check it out please."

"Affirmative, mission control. Jarin out."

Both pilots tightened up their loose formation and turned their fighters to new coordinates. As they closed in, Jarin's hair on his neck started to rise. Over the years, Jarin learned to trust the so-called sixth sense that every soldier or pilot developed if he survived long enough.

"Vaughn, something's not right. Slight warp disturbances usually mean an exiting ship. But this is way out of the usual trade routes. Keep your eyes open."

"Will do Commander." came Vaughn's reply.

As they approached their destination, Jarin's neck hair was so erect that it seemed to fall out anytime. His sensors showed something strange.

"Vaughn, are you getting this? It looks like a miniature vortex of some sort. Barely visible on the sensors and invisible to the naked eye.

"Command, we have something strange here. Sending my telemetry data now."

Suddenly the vortex grew exponentially and something came out.

"Fighter! Looks like a Hell Blade pattern."

"Where? My sensors show nothing" Vaughn yelled in his comm.

"Dammit, Norm, use your freaking eyes. It's right in front of us and getting away."

Both Thunderbolts swooped down on the enemy fighter, trying to get a target lock. That seemed all but impossible, since the fighter wasn't showing on their sensors. To make matters worse, it was slowly getting away.

Jarin cursed. Hell Blades were fast and maneuverable. If they came into a dogfight, he wasn't sure if he and Vaughn came back. Suddenly the Hell Blade exploded in a bright flash, shattering its debris in every direction. Jarin banked hard to avoid the cloud.

"Got him!" Vaughn yelled into the comm.

"How did you do that without a target lock?" Jarin asked.

"You know, some of us can still shoot" came Vaughn's reply. Jarin knew Norm didn't mean to insult him. It was just friendly poking.

"Yeah, you got me. But don't get cocky. I bet there are hundreds of these where this one came from. We should hide in the asteroid field an observe. There might be a chaos raid imminent. I will alert mission control so they bring the defenses on line and alert the fleet. Better not get caught with our pants down."

Both fighters went into the asteroid field and watched.

It didn't take long.

Suddenly the vortex, that was barely wide enough for a fighter to pass through, exploded. Its diameter grew a hundred fold, large enough for battleships to pass through.

And battleships passed through. As Jarin watched, one cruiser was followed by another. And another. And another. Then came a heavy cruiser. And another. And a battleship. And another. Escort vessels flowed like blood. From every ship capable came fighters. Dozens. Hundreds. Jarin was speechless. Even the combined might of subsector battlefleet couldn't possibly win against this force.

"What do we do Commander?" came a whispered question from Vaughn.

"Command must have gotten this. We will try to head back to Lantanda and fight with our comrades. Alone out here we can do nothing."

"You're right. We should head deeper into the field and exit it on the other side of the sun. That way the enemy shouldn't spot us."

"Agreed. We wait until no more ships come out. Then we move." Jarin said.

The chaos ships continued to exit the warp gate. The flow became a trickle and stopped. Then out came transport ships. Again dozens exited. And Jarin knew they were in big trouble. The chaos forces didn't come to raid and destroy, they came to conquer.

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"Gentleman, you all know why we're here." said the person at the head of the large table.

"As you know, the Phyrias Sector was attacked five years ago by the archenemies forces and tore deep into our territory. Four sub sectors, namely Omalgon, Dementia, Kyron and Lantanda have fallen before we could stem the tide at Adumbria II and now we are at a kind of stalemate.

"I suggest, we undertake a crusade to relieve these worlds from the archenemies' grasp and bring them back to imperial control."

The suggestion led to the expected uproar. Shouts like "too much losses" or "not worth it" came from the assembled group. He memorized the faces of those who weren't deeming it worthy to free imperial worlds and citizens from the grasp of the archenemy.

An Inquisitor stepped forward into the light and the assembly fell silent.

"Your doubts are appreciated and acknowledged. But it doesn't impede the matter. We have to get these sub sectors back or we will show our enemies that they have an easy going with us after our losses during Abbadon's last incursion and our battles against hive fleet Leviathan and the orcs that still hold the forge worlds in the Agrippina sector." he said.

"Thank you Inquisitor. I share your fears about the losses. Fighting chaos is never easy. They are either freaking lunatics or ripe with diseases. We WILL lose men. We WILL have an enormous bloodshed. But we are here to choose the best commanders for this job, so we can make sure, that these losses are as light as possible."

And with these words, the assembly started the long and arduous task of planning.

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"Hey Maxim!"

Maxim turned away from the two Commanders he talked to to look who called him. He saw Anastasius Carter walking fast towards him, a big smile on his face. Seeing Maxim's look, Anastasius stopped shortly before him, the hand he put out for greeting going to his head in a sharp salute.

"Rear Admiral."

Maxim returned the salute.

"Mr. Carter. Meet me in one hour in the officers mess hall. Dismissed."

"Yes, Rear Admiral." said Anastasius and turned away.

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"Alright Gentleman. I think we agreed on the different commanders for this crusade. Let me summarize."

"Overall command lies in the hand of Lord General Hugo van Buyten" nodding to the man sitting to his right, "as he was the leading force of putting together this crusade and has the most experience in leading forces of this size and planning battles of this magnitudes. I'll let him introduce you the rest of his commanding staff. He will also brief you on his overall tactic."

The short and stocky man stood up and cleared his throat.

"As for the tactics I plan a multiple assault with one force for each sector. This is not because I fear the enemy reinforcing each other. Scouts have proven, that each of the four powers claimed one sector and sometimes they even fight themselves in skirmishes and raids. But if we attack only one sub sector at the time, the others have time to fortify themselves and it'll be exponentially harder to flush them out.

"The Omalgon sector is held by forces that follow the Chaos entity known as Khorne. In Dementia, forces apparently connected to Slaanesh hold power, while Kyron is infested by the followers of the plaque god and Lantanda is held by the forces of the entity we know as Tzeentch. Lantanda is also the one place where this incursion originated in the first place. We don't know if the warp gate is still active in the Lantanda system. If it is, we will have to find a way to close this.

"As for the commanders, I have decided the following.

"In the Omalgon sector, the space forces will be commanded by Admiral Konstanza Faris. She has proven herself in numerous space clashes against Orcs and Chaos alike, and is therefore somewhat familiar with their tactics, if you can call it that. As for the ground command, I will appoint General Falim Borus. He commanded 25 regiments during a battle during the 13th Black Crusade against a khornate force and prevailed despite being outnumbered 4 to 1. So he is in my opinion the best choice for this command.

"The space forces in the Dementia sector will be commanded by Admiral Sheamus Hauclir. He is experienced in space warfare and knows how to use the ships placed under his command. The ground forces will be lead by General Jesse Hauclir, brother of Admiral Hauclir. He has experience in battling forces that worship Slaanesh.

"In Kyron, space command goes to Admiral Carlos McNeil. He is known to be a restless pursuer and won't let any ship get away that carries the plaque. General Tyr Bruglir will be in command of the ground forces. Due to the nature of the enemy, every regiment placed there will have to be fully covered therefore most of the motorized regiments will go there.

"Lantanda space forces will be placed under the command of Rear Admiral Maximillian Macharius. I know that he is not as seasoned a commander as the others and only 42 years old, but if you check his inquisitorial record you will see, that he is an expert tactician, known to take on superior forces and emerge victorious. He is also the one responsible for the disappearance of the Fallos Belt ten years ago. The other thing ..."

He turned around to the Inquisitor who nodded. "Everybody has the necessary security clearance." he said.

"Maximillian Macharius is an untouchable. That means, he nullifies every warp activity around him. He wears an inhibitor that prevents his ability to roam unchecked, if you know what I mean. Battling against Tzeentchian forces could mean a lot of warp sorcery on the enemy's side and I need an edge there. The emperor help me, if I ever need it. Also, if we should reach the warp gate he might be the key to close it.

"I will personally command the ground forces in Lantanda. Long range probes show that it's strongest defended sub sector and the terrain doesn't favor us well."

The assembled men murmured but nobody had objections to the Lord Generals choices.

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As Maxim walked into the mess hall, he saw Anastasius sitting at a table close to the window, chewing on something that looked like meat on a stick. As he walked over to him, Anastasius rose to throw him another salute.

"At ease."

"Both men sat down. Before Anastasius could say anything, Maxim spoke.

"Listen, I know we're friends, but when I'm not alone, you should be addressing me with my rank and not yell my name across the observation deck. Is that clear?"

"Absolutely. I'm sorry." Anastasius said.

"So, we got that out of the way. How did you get along the last fifteen years?" Maxim asked.

"I'm still on the resilient. After Urag went into retirement, I became flight commander. We fought during the Dark Eldar attack on Attansic 5 years ago and my bomber wings managed to destroy two of their cruiser sized vessels. After that they fled and left their brethren on the surface to die. How did you do?"

"Well, after the Fallos Belt incident I was rerouted close to the region around Agrippina to battle the orcs there. The imperium is still struggling to get back the forge worlds."

He leaned in close to Anastasius. "One good thing about the orcs having conquered a forge world. The Adeptus Mechanicus was never so forthcoming when you asked them for support. I told them that I needed at least a thousand servitors to improve my ships performance in battle. Less than a week later I got a shipment of two thousand and five hundred of them for me to do what I wanted. After I destroyed an orc kill cruiser it rammed my ship with its momentum. They cut it out and repaired my ship in 3 days after I told them, I was going to destroy every orc ship I encounter."

Maxim checked his watch. "Oh, look at the time. I have a meeting with Admiral Sirius. He is giving me new orders. See you around." Then he got up and left the mess hall.

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Gorak the Beautiful killed the last of his immediate enemies and looked around. As of his orders, his underlings captured many survivors. Despite having conquered the subsectors together, the bond between the four powers shattered after the forces of the false Emperor managed to stop the chaos forces at the battle of Adumbria II. Gorak's piece of the cake was first attacked by Tzeentchian forces, so Gorak retaliated and raided a Tzeentchian conquered planet.

A giggling sound of a prisoner got Gorak out of his thinking. He walked over and smacked the wretched being with a powerful back swing. It landed ten feet away, continuing to giggle.

"What is so funny, you mutated monstrosity??" Gorak rambled.

Calling a chaos influenced being a mutant was inane of course. But if gave Gorak a way to express his rage. The thing seemed to start to talk.

"Funny Gorak. Fighting the forces of my masters, while the forces of the blood god are led by the one man who destroyed your dominion all those years ago..." The rest of the sentence was lost in giggling, followed by a gurgle as Gorak ripped out its throat.

"KILL THEM ALL!!!"

Nothing more coherent came out of Goraks mouth. All he could do was screaming his rage. All this time looking for the one responsible and this being was almost next to him for the last five years.

Gorak swore to hunt him down and slowly kill him.

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_Aemos was still sitting on his throne, collecting all the information his minions collected of his archenemy, Harkanos. He had to prevent him from becoming strong enough again. If he was, Aemos knew he would be finished._

_But, having persuaded the slaaneshi commander to attack the khornate forces would only make him stronger. As long as his master, Tzeentch, was getting stronger, he himself became stronger._

_To be continued..._

End of Chapter 1.

Addendum: The battle of Adumbria II

Adumbria II, located in the Adumbria system, is a fortress world at the outer edge of the Omalgon sector. Knowing that the chaos incursion fleet was at least five times bigger than Battlefleet Phyrias, Lord Admiral Korchenbach, supreme commander of Battlefleet Phyrias, decided to lure the chaos fleet to Adumbria. During the fights against the raiders, seeing that he could never defeat them, Korchenback gave the order to fortify the Adumbria system.

Minefields were laid in the outer asteroid belt, weapon stations and torpedo launchers put on the bigger asteroids. The fortress world was fully manned and supplied, depleting the depots of several close worlds. Two Space Marine chapters were ordered to the fortress worlds, lending their fleet strength and almost a thousand Space Marines to the ground forces.

After Korchenbach arrived at Adumbria, he waited two days for stragglers and activated the minefields afterwards. As predicted the Chaos fleets arrived at Adumbria to smash away the last considerable imperial space forces in the Phyrias sector. Thanks to the mines and weapon stations, almost a third of the chaos fleet was destroyed before it even reached the imperial lines.

When it did, the fortress world proved its worth ten fold, destroying several battleships and battlecruisers. The Space Marine ships also proved to be worthy by destroying a lot of ships with their close range batteries. When chaos ground forces landed on the force world, the Space Marines took the brunt of the fighting, driving the landed enemy forces out time and time again, suffering heavy losses themselves. Thousands of guardsman died in the struggles.

When the chaos forces started to gain the upper hand, Korchenbach showed his last hand by having made a secret alliance with a nearby craftworld. A large fleet of Eldar vessels suddenly appeared behind the chaos lines, destroying a lot of cruisers and support vessels, along with several transports, which hadn't unloaded their troops yet, giving the defenders on the fortress world precious breathing room.

With the remainders of the chaos fleet stuck between eldar and imperial forces, they were slowly but surely wiped out. One third of the fleet managed to flee into the warp where the eldar ships couldn't follow. The imperial fleet wasn't in position to pursue. They suffered extreme losses, but Battlefleet Phyrias had all but ceased to exist. The remaining ships are either in repair or distributed around the rest of Phyrias.

Now, Adumbria is like the Cadia of Phyrias. All chaos forces that want to attack the rest of Phyrias have to go through Adumbria. The system is still heavily fortified and a lot of the reinforcements are stationed there to prevent further incursions. Furthermore, Adumbria will be used as a staging point for the crusade to liberate the four subsectors and bring them back under imperial rule.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Old enemies**

Gorag the Beautiful was in a fit of rage for a while now. During a retaliation raid against a planet hold by the hated followers of Tzeentch he learned that the leader of the forces of the even more hated Khorne were led by the one who destroyed his dominion all those years ago. It took Gorag a great many battles to regain even a fraction of his former power and become the leader of the forces of his master when the forces of Chaos spilled into this sector.

Gorag knew that the information was fed to him on purpose but he didn't care. He swore to take his revenge on the individual who did it and nothing short of Slaanesh himself would stop him from doing it, no matter the cost.

And with this thoughts in his head he calmed himself and called his war council together.

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_Personal log of Rear Admiral Maximilian Macharius, Captain of the Apocalypse class battleship _Inexorable Justice_. Two years ago I was ordered to the Phyrias sector, specifically the Adumbria system on the edge of the Omalgon subsector. I was told that a crusade was staged to free the four subsectors that had fallen into the hands of chaos. I'm here for two years now and the crusade is still in the process of building the forces to do it._

_I was also told that I work directly under the leader of the crusade, Lord General Hugo van Buyten. So far I haven't met him. Me and my former command, the _Resilient,_ made several patrols in the nearby systems, scouting and hunting for lone chaos ships or lightly guarded convoys. So far we managed to destroy two cruisers and five transport ships. _

_Upon my inquiries I learned that the build-up for the crusade could take another three years. I wonder if we can still free something after that time or if we find only dead worlds after letting chaos reign for a decade or more._

Maxim closed his log and leaned back in his chair. The boredom was slowly but surely taking its toll on his readiness. He had times with no actions before, like the three months of patrol around the area where the fallos belt had been but then he knew that it was only for a short time. Or the hunt for the ork boss Grakhal Skullbiter which took almost a year before he himself was able to lure the complete ork fleet into an ambush and completely annihilating it.

But now he felt he was loosing his edge. He barely was able to sleep a night through. He needed some action and fast. If he had to do this boring stuff for three more years, he knew he would go crazy. A chime of the doorbell swept these thoughts away.

"Enter" he said, knowing that it was already 3 o'clock in the morning. Normally he had adjutants to keep visitors off his back at this time of night. He would have to have a long talk with them.

As the door opened, every word of reprimand and anger died in his throat as he saw the person standing in the door frame.

"Hello Maxim." he said.

Maxim as suspicious about this camaraderie immediately.

"Good morning, Inquisitor Khornat. What gives me the . . . pleasure of your visit?"

"Ah, come on Maxim, irony doesn't suit you. Can't I visit an old friend?" Khornat asked with a slight smile.

Maxim only stared at him.

"Ok, I'm here because I need you for a special mission" he said.

"Do I have to save the galaxy again like last time you needed me for a special mission?" Maxim asked.

"No, not the galaxy this time, but this crusade and by the extension, the whole sector."

"Ah, no pressure then."

The Inquisitor laughed at that and sat down on one of the armchairs.

"As you might already know, the chaos incursion here began after a warp gate opened in the Lantanda sub. It's like a miniature eye of terror with a diameter of about 10 kilometers. Big enough to let any kind of ship passing through.

"When the incursion began, I was here in the Omalon sub. After receiving the first reports, I dispatched several units of my retinue to different planets around the four sub sectors to build resistance cells and keep me informed. My cell on Lantanda reported, that the chaos forces are constantly reinforced via the warp gate. Sometimes fights break out between followers of different chaos powers but usually they come through the gate and immediately head towards their respective sectors.

"I plan to close that gate before the crusade starts and I need you for it. Or better, I need your peculiar gift."

Gift. Maxim was a blank, a psychic untouchable with a very large field of influence. To prevent that talent to disturb astropathic messages and warp travel, he wore a masterfully crafted limiter in the shape of the God Emperor of mankind with two gold glowing eyes that indicated that it was active. A little button in the back turned it off when Maxim pressed it three times in quick succession to prevent an accidental deactivation.

"You think that the warp gate will close when I deactivate my limiter close to it?" Maxim asked.

"I certainly hope so. I informed Lord General van Buyten about my plan and he gave me his blessing."

"Ok, how do you propose we get to the gate? We will have to travel through Omalgon and Lantanda to get there. How will we do that unnoticed with an Apocalypse battleship?"

"We don't. I have acquired a . . . special ship for that. The mission starts in two 33 hours. Your ship will stay in dry dock here at Adumbria for that time for a little overhaul. I will send one if my men to pick you up."

With that, the Inquisitor got up and turned to leave.

"Alright then. See you then."

Maxim sighed. The old saying, 'Remember what you wish for' came to mind. Part of him wanted to go on a boring month long patrol. The other part was anxious to begin the mission with the Inquisitor.

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Victor Harras dispatched the last gibbering enemy soldier in his vicinity and looked around. Overall on the battlefield, his forces were routing up the last enemies that dared to raid his headquarters. The brands on their heads indicated them to be followers of the hated sorcerer god.

The Why of the raid was a mystery to Victor. While he relished a good fight and bloodshed he couldn't understand why the warlord of the forces of Tzeentch would attack in such small force where it could never be successful. He was about to kill another gurgling enemy that was laying before him with both legs blown off when it started giggling and almost singing.

"_Victor Harras, don't be happy_

_here it will decide your fate._

_Your nemesis is very snappy_

_and will close the entry gate._

_Again he will be your undoing_

_not by burning this planet here._

_He will follow where you're going_

_And you will learn the meaning of fear."_

Victor beheaded the creature with one sweep of his chainblade. An insane fury gripped him when he thought about the words he just heard. He surely had more than one enemy but only one spoiled his plans by burning a planet. That would mean that the individual responsible for the interference of his ascend to demonhood was with the weak imperials who were massing in Adumbria.

Victor Harras gave a cry of rage that cowed even his fellow chaos marines. He swore a long time ago that he would take revenge. Now this revenge seemed closer than ever. He ran back to his command bunker to make plans for an all-out assault on Adumbria to destroy every imperial ship he could find. It took him great efforts to regain his status and become warlord of this expeditiion. Not again would some imperial commander spoil his plans for demonhood.

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_Aemos was pleased with himself. He had antagonized the warlord of Slaanesh to attack the forces of Khorne. And while this attack was already on its way, he incensed the warlord of Khorne to attack the imperial forces. _

_Aemos knew that the forces of the slaaneshi warlord were too weak for the khornate forces and though they couldn't beat them they would weaken them. And what remained of the khornate forces wouldn't be enough to do much against the imperial forces that were already assembled at Adumbria._

_That left only the forces of Nurgle. He started making plans for the imperials to believe that they had to destroy these forces before his own. After all the followers of the other powers were defeated he would call his forces back with almost no losses. This balance of power would give him great advantages in his defense against Harkanos._

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Lord General Hugo van Buyten checked his data slates. So far the process of building up the forces of the crusade was making good progress. He had aquired the support of six different chapters of the Adeptus Astartes instead of the planned four. That would greatly help him with the crusade in the Kyron subsector where the planets were believed to be hellholes of pestilence and decay.

The foundings of regiments was making slower process than expected but he should get every unit he demanded. Only the Adeptus Mechanicus was being reluctant to lent its forces to the crusade.

A knock on the door took the thoughts of the Mechanicus away momentarily. An adjutant of his entered and handed him another data slate. Van Buyten took it sighing and was about to fling it on the pile to the others when the sight of an inquisitorial rosette on its top caught his eye.

He dismissed his adjutant and uncoded the slate. What he read there brought a smile on his face as he looked upon the solution for his titan problems. If not this, nothing would bring the Adeptus Mechanicus to arms faster. Not if they got the chance of fighting traitor titan legions. Lord General Hugo van Buyten read the slate again and saw the names of the legions that were lending their strength to the chaos forces.

Legio Vulcanum. Flaming Skulls.

Two days later, he got the astropathic message that the Mechanicus was sending the War Griffons and Fire Wasps titan legions to his aid.

_To be continued..._

End of chapter 2.

Addendum: Lord General Hugo van Buyten

Hugo van Buyten was born into a noble family and descended from a long line of guard officers. After graduating the academy he began his career as a platoon commander, caring for his men and losing only 22 of the original 50 in 5 years of service. Knowing almost instinctively how to use the given terrain to his advantage his forces were often used as rearguard to stall the enemy while their comrades pulled back. Given these circumstances the loss rate of his unit is quite remarkable.

After rising through the ranks to regimental commander he came to despise several Lord Generals he served under. He spent two days in solitary confinement after knocking down Lord General Grafe for sending his men on an unimportant suicidal mission. He was released by Commissar-General Kauder who shot Grafe for treasonous behavior.

After rising to the rank of Lord General himself, he successfully commanded several large scale battles, winning them all by placing his units in the right spots. After his homeworld of Lantanda was taken over by a chaos incursion he put his strength into building up a crusade to free it. He got his wish and is now planning the strategies to end the crusade with as little casualties as possible.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Bad Blood**

Explosions flashed in the dark, cold night as soldier after soldier was downed by concentrated fire. Missile trails streaked past him, impacting in masonry and earth ramparts and energy blasts lit up the night while he tried to survive the onslaught of the enemy attack.

"Major Morrison! Bravo 3 is down! Repeat, Bravo 3 is down!"

"Major! We're losing ground! The enemy force is chewing us up!"

Similar messages came rifling through the vox at regular intervals. They were outnumbered and outgunned. There was no way they would be able to come out of this in one piece. The mission was to delay and damage the enemy as much as possible to allow the other troops a retreat as save as possible into the fortress. But their best efforts barely scratched the surface of the enemy host.

Morrison looked through his night vision binoculars and felt a urge of despair coming over him. The enemy was overwhelming. He could see thousands of lunatics scrambling up the steep slope, screaming for his blood and skull. One positive aspect of their position was the inability of the enemy tanks to get to them.

"Major Morrison. General Thompson here. We are in position. Disengage from the enemy and fall back to the fortress. We will commence an artillery barrage on you position in one minute. Repeat, one minute. Thompson out."

Morrison turned to his vox operator. "Relay the general's message to the squads and start running. Anyone who stays here is dead." Following his own order he turned and started running. As he neared the gates of the fortress the earth shook as several earthshaker cannons started firing their load and obliterated the very same position he and his men gave their life to defend just moments ago. As Morrison watched his last men entering the fortress and the enemy dying in droves he just hoped that they would soon be reinforced. Else there would be no one left alive to rescue.

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As Maxim looked out the shuttle window he saw what the Inquisitor meant with 'special' ship. In front of him loomed a sleek but deadly vessel, its surface gleaming in the reflection of the distant sun. A faint memory came into his mind back when he was a second-in command on an escort vessel. He had seen similar ships destroying the convoy he was supposed to guard.

It was a Hemlock class destroyer, an eldar escort vessel. Fast, maneuverable and armed with a prow pulsar lance that could destroy an imperial escort vessel with one well placed shot.

Its holofields were inactive, the ship being hidden from curious eyes by being in the orbit of Adumbria IX, the outermost planet of the Adumbria system. As his shuttle closed, Maxim could make out some details of the ships hull. It was scorched in a few places, clear signs of battle damage not yet fully repaired.

"I wonder if that ship was part of the battle for this system" Maxim thought aloud.

He didn't expect an answer for he was being alone on the shuttle apart from the piloting servitor. As his thoughts went back to the battle that raged this system, the shuttle docked to the ship. Maxim waited until a connection was established and stepped through. The shuttle immediately undocked and left the vicinity.

Khornat was waiting for him, behind him two eldar.

"Glad you could make it Mr. Macharius" he said with a light tone.

"Did I have a choice?" maxim asked sourly, looking at both aliens.

"Ah, come on Maxim, it'll be fun. You'll get to know the inside of an eldar vessel. Is that nothing?" Khornat replied.

That was intriguing, Maxim gave him that. Few men have ever set foot on an eldar vessel as guests instead of prisoners. Maxim fell in step with Khornat and both men went into the direction of the bridge, lead by their escorts – or guardians.

"How long will we be underway?" Maxim asked Khornat.

"Approximately 4 days total." was the reply.

"What? Even with the warp currents in our favour it would take at least ten days to reach Lantanda. And we still have to drop out of warp sometimes in Omalgon so we're in danger of being discovered by the enemy."

"Maxim, Maxim, when will you learn to trust me. We're on an eldar vessel. They wouldn't enter the warp we know if you hold a gun to their head. We use one of their web ways. We will only have to leave it once and use another gate before we reach Lantanda. But the system is a backwater planet so we estimate the presence of an enemy fleet minimal."

"That all sounds easy. But I still can't shake the feeling that we'll get in serious trouble before we reach Lantanda." Maxim said.

"Relax. It'll go fine. Your only task is to deactivate your limiter once we're there. And hopefully that will close the warp portal.

"Anyway, up for a game of regicide once we are on our way?" Khornat asked.

"No objections there. I win usually. Want to play for inquisitorial secrets?"

"Ha ha. Lets better not. I'd rather not shoot you before this mission is over."

Maxim could only grimace at that.

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_Aemos could feel the upcoming turning point. So far his plans worked out. The forces of Khorne and Slaanesh would soon be on each others teeth and the weak imperials were massing overwhelming forces against the nurglite faction. His pawn confirmed the absence of the invisible man._

_He started to send out orders to his warlord and triggered long planned events that would eventually lead the the destruction of every chaos force in the Phyrias sector but his own._

_And all over the Lantanda subsector, armed chaos forces were startinging to board their transport vessels and warships. Only 12 hours later, only a token occupying force was present in the Lantanda sub._

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"Maxim, may I introduce you to Commander Samuel Jarin and Lt. Commander Norman Vaughn."

Both men leaped to their feet and saluted sharply when they saw the rank pins on Maxims otherwise unremarkable clothes. Maxim returned the salute. "As you were, Gentlemen."

"These two men were pilots in the system defense force of Lantanda and where close when the warp gate opened." Khornat continued. "They managed to escape after they recorded as much as possible. Upon hearing from them I ordered them to me to act as our guides when we reach Lantanda so we stay undetected for as long as possible."

Maxim leaned closer to Khornat.

"You said my nullifying field works systemwide. Why don't I deactivate the limiter once we exit the warp in Lantanda?"

"Because the exit point is directly opposite of the gate. The distance is great so I want to make sure it works. Also, since Lantanda is occupied by forces serving the chaos deity we call Tzeentch, we can be sure that they'd notice a blackout like this."

"If they notice us when I deactivate my limiter, we'll be chased." Maxim pointed out.

"Yes, that is a risk I am willing to take. The main objective is the closing of the warp gate to prevent any further reinforcements for the chaos forces." Khornat said.

With nothing more to say, Khornat gave the order to move. 2 hours later, the ship was en route in an eldar webway to their first destination.

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Gorak the Beautiful watched as his troops killed the last of the khornate garrison forces. He knew that he still had a long way before him but he'd find the khornate champion. As he was about to start calling down the transport vessels, one of his subordinates came running to him.

"My Lord! I received word from the _Ark of Pleasure. _They report a large fleet of chaos vessels. The flagship was identified as the _Nemesis of Terra_. That means the khornates are lead by their warlord."

Gorak felt joy. His lord Slaanesh had seemingly delivered his prey directly to him.

"All forces, move to the fortress. Bring in slaves from the population to fortify it further. We will make its surroundings a killing zone. After we decimated them, we'll destroy them in close combat."

His troops cheered and went to obey his orders. Mere hours later, forty thousand slaves were working to strengthen the fortress that wasn't able to hold off the initial invasion.

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"My Lord. We identified the enemy flagship as the _Ark of Pleasure_, the flagship of the slaaneshi invasion fleet."

Victor Harras smiled to himself. He had caught the invasion force before it could harass his realm further.

"All troops, prepare for drop. We will take the fight to them and slaughter them all. BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!!!"

All over the fleet, the battlecry was repeated.

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"Tell me Inquisitor, if I'd be inside the Eye of Terror and deactivate my limiter, what would happen?" Maxim asked.

"I seriously don't know. If we discover blanks we try to use them effectively. They are too rare to be used in such an experiment." Khornat replied as he moved another figure.

"Then let us hope that none of your colleagues gets the idea to try it with me. My game." Maxim said, winning again.

"Man, you're lucky that you are that important of I'd shoot you for this."

Maxim saw Khornat smile and knew that he didn't mean that.

"Too bad you can't read my mind, huh?"

"Let me make one thing clear. I can't read minds like this" Khornat said, snipping. "Reading a man's mind would take great concentration and could have grave side effects on both the reader and the victim. If you try to read minds is like stepping into a large room filled with people where everyone is talking, and you try to listen to one single voice. But what I can do is feel intentions. In regicide, you think hard about your moves and it spills from you like heat from a radiator. You're a radiator that is switched off."

Suddenly the comm started blaring. "Inquisitor Khornat, report to the bridge immediately." said the voice of Commander Jarin.

As both men entered the bridge they saw what had alerted the ship. In front of them, close to the second planet, a large fleet battle was raging.

"I didn't know our fleet was already making their move." said Vaughn.

"They haven't" Maxim said. "Both fleets consists of chaos vessels."

He was right. Dozens of ships fought each other and transports rained drop pods and landers into the planets atmosphere.

"Why are we here?" Maxim asked.

"This is the system where we had to leave the webway and enter another gate." Khornat replied.

"Then why don't they do it?" Jarin asked, pointing to the eldar piloting the ship.

"Because the entry point is close to the planet. We will have to wait until they are finished. The holofields of this ship will probably prevent them from discovering us."

Maxim sighed and sat down. "At least we're getting a good light show."

The other humans chuckled at that. The eldar made no noise.

_To be continued..._

Addendum: The role of the eldar in the Phyrias conflict.

The actions of the eldar are of great speculation to the imperial strategists. Most of the times they are only pirates, abushing convoys and raiding isolated outposts and colonies. But sometimes they form alliances with the imperial forces.

Known incidents on a larger scale are the Battle of Gethesmane during the Gothic War and the 13th Black Crusade where eldar navy joined forces with their imperial counterparts. The same happened during the chaos incursion in Phyria. Although Lord Admiral Korchenbach had to ask first, the eldar responded positively and lend their strength to the imperial navy during the battle of Adumbria II.

Now the eldar have loaned a single escort vessel to the Inquisition for a special mission that could tip the balance of power to the imperial forces.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – A little of the road**

"Admiral Konstanza Faris reporting as ordered." said Fairs as she saluted Hugo van Buyten, Lord General of the liberating force.

"At ease Admiral." replied van Buyten. "Please take your seat."

Faris sat down, joining the other admirals and generals that were the command echelon of the crusade.

"Where is Rear Admiral Macharius?" Faris asked.

"He's on a special mission with the Inquisition. That is all I can tell you."

Mentioning the Inquisition caused a murmur around the table. Van Buyten cleared his throat to quieten them.

"The reason I called you here are new information our scouts and forward patrols gathered. They found the enemy naval presence in the Dementia and Omalgon subs much reduced compared to earlier surveys. Our scouts reported that some systems they used had only one or two escort squadrons, others have maybe one or two cruisers with their escorts.

"Reports from the Lantanda sub indicate that the chaos forces there seem to be withdrawing through the warp gate. We don't know why and I think I don't even want to know. The only chaos forces that do nothing are the ones in Kyron.

"So here's what we will do. We will take one third of the fleets chosen for Lantanda, Omalgon and Dementia and use them to strengthen the fleet destined for Kyron. Since we don't have any information about the ground forces anywhere we won't change anything in that matter.

"The attack will begin in one week from today. Any questions?"

"How many of the armored forces have arrived already?" asked General Jesse Hauclir.

"Two companies of the Destroyers Space Marine chapter, one of the Inceptors. The titans of the War Griffons legion are already here, the Fire Wasps are still at least two months away. Hauclir, you will get the War Griffons, most of the Space Marines and of course the Guard units that were assigned to you.

"Other questions?"

"Who will lead the Lantanda space forces with Rear Admiral Macharius away?" asked Faris.

"I will" van Buyten replied. "With the withdrawal of the chaos space forces there I don't expect much space fighting."

Nobody else had a question, so van Buyten dismissed them, smiling to himself, knowing that soon the liberation would begin.

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"Beautiful, isn't it?" Khornat asked no one in particular as he watched another cruiser explode in the deadly ballet that was going on in front of them.

"Yes, you could say that." Maxim replied. "As long as it isn't you on one of those ships. Believe me, I've been there. It may haven't been that intense but dangerous nonetheless. And counting the drops I think there is a large battle on the planet as well."

"What drops?" That came from Jarin, who sat behind Maxim.

"Look behind the fighting and you see the transports unloading their living and unliving cargo. One of the ships going down was a massive lander so I figure there is at least one titan down there as well, not counting any that might already be on the planet."

Before anyone could say anything else, an alarm sounded. Maxim knew enough from Khornat to know that it meant they were targeted my another ship. Before he could even stand up the ship started moving. It was rocked by an impact and started to spin.

The eldar pilot evened it out quickly and went full speed to loose their attacker.

"What attacked us?" Maxim asked.

Khornat relayed the question in eldar tongue and one of them answered. Then he turned to Maxim.

"They say they can't make out the attacker, it's behind a holofield like we are. They presume it's their dark brethren. Don't ask me how they can tell, I don't know."

"Where are we going now? We can't enter the webway as long as this battle is going on."

"According to them we will enter another webway entrance. It seems this system is somewhat like an intersection with roads going in a lot of directions. Now be quiet and let them fly the ship."

Maxim grudgingly strapped himself into his seat and looked outside. They were flying at speeds that could rival a fighter. Deep in himself he thanked the emperor that the eldar were few in number. A large fleet of those ships could easily obliterate any fleet the Imperium can muster.

Suddenly they were in the webway again. At the sides of the ship, the wall of the way went past, slightly dimming the turmoil of the warp beyond it. Again he could only gaze in awe at the technical skill the eldar must have. To build tubes through the warp that could not be penetrated by the entities lurking within was truly an extraordinary achievement.

Suddenly the eldar on the bridge became uneasy, almost panic. Before Maxim could ask, he saw why. In front of them, still a long distance away but visible nonetheless, a large eldar vessel came their way.

'Most likely a torture class cruiser' Maxim thought. As far as Maxim knew the torture class was the only capital ship the Dark Eldar used. Fast, powerful and vastly superior to the vessel he was on, especially with another Dark Eldar ship in pursuit.

Maxim could feel the ship accelerating.

"Why are they accelerating?" Maxim asked Khornat. "We have no chance to bypass the cruiser and we can't fight it either."

"They haven't told me. Maybe there is another exit from this webway and we have to reach it before they do. We better not interrupt them."

Maxim kept watching. The distance between the cruiser and his ship was shrinking constantly while the ship behind them closed the distance as well.

"Luckily the ship behind us hasn't fired yet." Maxim mused.

"That's because they don't want to risk destroying us." Khornat replied. "The one thing Dark Eldar prefer over human slaves to torture is Eldar slaves to torture. They are chasing us to the cruiser, hoping we stand down."

Maxim checked the sensor readings from his seat. He could see that their pursuer was almost on top of them while the cruiser was filling the viewscreen. The eldar at the controls screamed something in his tongue and yanked the steering hard to the right. With a ear-torturing scratching sound of metal on metal, their small ship veered below the cruiser.

Their pursuer was not so lucky. Having matched the speed of their prey but not anticipating their sudden move, it tried to veer aside as the eldar did. The ship hit the cruisers right side like a bullet an unarmored man, completely severing the complete right side of the ship and crashing into the wall of the webway.

The cruiser looked as if it continued to fly straight ahead but it slowly jerked to the left, venting atmosphere, debris and bodies into the webway before crashing into the wall as well. The explosion was a beautiful thing to behold, channeled into the way, illuminating it for dozens of kilometers.

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Victor Harras shot an enemy in the face while driving his chain axe into the scull of another. Ripping it out caused a gush of blood to splash him in the face. How he reveled in this slaughter All around him, the fighting was close and intense. Close to him, the few khorne berserks that were willing to accompany him drove into the enemy ranks like scythes into a wheat field.

_Flamma Ultrix_, the titan that was with Victor for so long wailed as it annihilated thousands of enemies. They had no titans of their own so very few things could hurt it. As Victor watched, the mighty plasma annihilator wiped out a group of defilers that were about to roll up the flank of one of his armored units that battled with their slaaneshi counterparts.

A sharp pain brought Victor's attention back to himself. A slaaneshi cultist had buried his knife into a weak spot in the armor of his axe arm, causing it to bury itself two centimeters into his skin. A twist broke the knife in half while Victor punched the face of the cultist to a bloody pulp.

Laughing, he threw himself into the fray again.

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Maxim couldn't see the explosion. Shortly before it happened they had exited the webway through the portal the pilot was heading but due to the crash they were completely out of control, spinning widely around their axis.

It only took a minute for the pilot to stabilize them but it felt like an eternity for Maxim. When they were finally upright again, he saw Jarin and Vaughn vomiting violently and even Khornat had to supress choking.

"They look like I feel' Maxim thought, then said "Where are we?"

Khornat transmitted the questions to the eldar who seemed to be discussing.

"We are in a system that the eldar haven't traveled to in millennia. It's several hundred light years away from the Phyrias sector and our destination."

"Then why don't they just re-enter the webway the way we came?" Jarin asked. "It seems, that the two other ships destroyed themselves."

"We can't" Khornat said. "The explosion has caused damage to the webway. Also, there are thousands of debris pieces in there we can't possibly fly around."

"Is there another webway entrance?" Maxim asked. "I don't believe they have a cul-de-sac system in their warp highway."

"There is. They are plotting the fastest way back right now."

"Inquisitor." Maxim said. "What do you make of the dark eldar presence in the occupied territories?"

"I have no idea. They could either be looking for easy pickings in terms of slaves or worse, they look for an alliance with one or more of the ruinous powers but in my opinion that is highly unlikely."

Maxim wasn't relieved at all. Fighting dark eldar vessels was something he didn't look forward too. The memory of the lost convoy came to his mind again. An ambush of dark eldar cruisers on a small imperial battle fleet could undo every battle plan of the liberation.

"Ok, men" Khornat said to the other humans on board. "We'll enter another webway again but the eldar estimated that it'll take us at least two more weeks to reach our destination."

Silence. Khornat and Maxim knew that the imperial attack would begin within a week. With the gate still open, dozens of ships could come through and thwart every attempt to free the sector.

_To be continued..._


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Holding lost**

The fortress was a magnificent sight to behold. Standing on top of a mountain four kilometers above sea level, it was shaped like a crescent. The only way up was by a long serpentine road that wound itself upwards for fifty kilometers, followed by a two kilometers long steep straight road to the fortress' outer gate. The fortress' position made it impossible for enemy forces to use regular artillery against it and due to the crescent form, any direct attack could be caught in a deadly crossfire. The fortress' own artillery positions were pre-sighted for the base of the mountain and a certain area beyond, so any enemy artillery would immediately be caught in a deadly return fire.

That facts are the only thing that made it possible for it to survive for as long as it did so far. Hubert Morrison, PDF Major and former Imperial Guard captain, looked over the battlements to the battlefield below. The area in front of the fortress was a three kilometer wide and two kilometer long graveyard for both vehicles and beings of flesh and blood. The fortress' outer wall had proved its worth time and time again, despite being the weakest line of defense compared to the other two.

The chaos forces have attacked the fortress time and time again, throwing themselves against the walls, supported by tanks and six-legged war machines that were hard to look at. The forces in the garrison were PDF with a few retired guard soldiers and during their stand they became veterans and could compare themselves against any guard units out there.

The food and ammunition reserves in the fortress' depots were still not even a quarter down. For everything the planetary government did wrong, Morrison was glad that the fortress was always supplied to the maximum even in peacetime. The only things that was running low were artillery shells which they had used in great expense during the first battles. Now they had to preserve them in case the enemy positioned own artillery at the base of the mountain again.

"Quiet today." said a voice left of Hubert.

The sound made him startle. As he looked after the source, he couldn't suppress a shiver. It was the sniper, one of the oldest people in the fortress. Rumors said he was about 300 years old, kept young by repeated juvenat treatments. Hubert didn't know why, since those treatments were mostly reserved for high planetary lords and governors. Nobody even knew his name, everyone only called him 'Snipe'.

"It is." he answered.

"They preparing a big attack from the looks of it." Snipe said.

"How do you know?"

"Look for yourself, down at the base at the begin of the serpentine."

Snipe offered his rifle for him to look through the scope, a motion that shocked Hubert. Snipers rarely gave their rifles into others hands. Somehow this action made Hubert like the man immediately. He took the rifle and looked through the scope, making sure he didn't accidentally change any settings.

As he looked down, he saw rows upon rows of armor, tents and other things. Figures were running to and fro, tending to tasks like a regular army. Other figures were being dragged to shallow pits where they were butchered and their blood collected to be spilled on those six-legged armored units he saw in previous attacks.

"Too bad you can't shoot them from here." Hubert mused to himself.

"I can" he heard.

"You can? How? The range must be several kilometers."

"Look down." The road up here winds itself up for a hundred steps, each 500 meters long. The maximum altitude change between each serpentine is only ten meters above the other. That makes one kilometer in height difference, not that much. Add the two kilometers from the serpentine end to the wall and its well in range of my rifle."

Hubert looked at the weapon in his hands. It was a remarkable piece, looking new and old at the same time.

"May I ask where you got that? It's remarkable." Hubert asked.

"I got it as a gift from a Space Marine whose life I saved during the Artanis war. He was the captain of the company that my regiment served alongside with. After this war I was granted retirement from active duty and came here." was the answer.

"Space Marines? I never saw one in my life. What chapter were they from?"

"Imperial Fists. Experts in siege warfare. They could build a fortress that can hold out indefinitely against almost any opponent. I think this one was planned by them as well."

Hubert looked again at the fortress. As he saw the extent of the three walls, its weapon mounts, magnificent gates and everything else, he could believe what Snipe had said.

"How did you save the life of this Space Marine?"

"He was dueling with a traitor marine and it went bad for him. When he was lying on the ground and the other one got ready to deliver the killing blow, I planted a shot between the helmet and the breastplate."

Hubert let out a slow whistle of admiration. Such a precise shot is hard to do, especially when the target is moving. Then another thing occurred to him.

"Wait, if you can get a shot from here, why aren't you killing some of them?"

"Because I never saw an officer yet. If I start killing troopers they will begin erecting view blocks so I won't be able to shoot anything anymore. Don't worry, as soon as I see an officer of some sort, I will blow his head off" Snipe said, smiling.

The smile brought another shiver to Hubert. It was like a predator looking at his prey, imagining the ways he could kill it with. As he was able to turn around to leave, one more thing came back to his mind.

"Before you said that you were granted early retirement from active duty. As I know for myself, this is only granted to those who have served well in many battles and survived. It is a thank you for soldiers so they can spend their remaining years in relative piece in a PDF unit and later as a civilian until they die. How come you are still alive and serving after so long?"

Snipe didn't answer for a time, just looking through his scope to the battlefield below and to the massing enemy.

"It's part of my punishment."

And before Hubert could ask more questions, it began raining men.

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Maxim entered the bridge, seeing Khornat talking to one of the eldar and saw the latter slowly shake his head, a strangely human expression for them.

"What now?" Maxim asked, walking over to them.

"Well, normally we would be only a two day trip away from Lantanda but there's a slight problem."

"And?"

"Look for yourself?"

As Maxim looked out the front view port, he saw a large space hulk lingering in space. It reminded Maxim of the picts he had seen of the one his firs command was cut out.

"It's a hulk, alright. What about it?" he asked.

"It's sitting right on the entrance to the webway. And we have no idea if it is populated. If it's not, we just enter the web. If it is populated by something like orcs who can use the guns then we're in trouble."

"Come on, Inquisitor, we can't only have bad luck all the way. Just go nice and slow and all will be fine." Maxim said.

The eldar pilot had apparently understood him and flew the ship slowly towards the hulk. Minutes passed in high tension, neither Maxim nor Khornat could breath deeply but the hulk did nothing. As the ship passed the hulk and entered the web, both let out a sigh of relief.

"See, that wasn't so bad, wasn't it?" Maxim asked.

"Well, I just hope we won't run into more trouble." replied Khornat.

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"What the hell . . . ?" Hubert turned and saw the first body land heavily on the ground. As it impacted, it burst open and a green cloud emanated from it. He saw dozens, hundreds more land in every part of the giant fortress. Wherever a soldier inhaled or touched the toxic clouds, his skin started to disintegrate and he began to choke. Hundreds died in seconds. Before Hubert could do anything, he was pulled by Snipe.

"Come on, we have to get back to the citadel."

Both men ran down the stairs, others joined in their flight. As they ran towards the second gate, men around them fell as the noxious gas touched them. Snipe and Hubert managed to get through the second gate right before it closed. As they looked around, both realized it was a futile attempt, since bodies could be seen landing in the second and also in the third compartment. Only the citadel itselt seemed unaffected yet. Both men started running again, eager to reach the third gate before it closes.

As they neared the gate they realized that the gates weren't gonna close. Only dead soldiers were at the controls in the gate house and from inside the citadel, no closing command seemed to come. Both cleared the third gate they saw bodies falling into the citadel's courtyard. Suddenly they heard a deep rumble mixed with what seemed to a scream voiced by a legion of throats.

"The fortress is lost. They must have realized that they can't take it by force so they flush us out with poisonous gas." Snipe commented while running as if discussing the weather.

"I agree. And the sound behind us is armor and screaming infantry. What do we do? We can't fight them back with all this gas killing us." Hubert replied.

"I know a back door. It leads to a hangar full of shuttles. We gather as many men as possible and abandon this fortress. We head for the mountains and hide there until we can either devise a plan to take it back or friendly reinforcements arrive."

Hubert wanted to stay and fight but wasn't going to question the experience of a 300-something year old soldier. He also knew that staying would mean certain death. The last thing he saw when he turned around before entering the citadel itself was green mist rising above the battlements and lots if infantry and armor pouring through the first gate.

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"Well, I think that were the most uneventful two days of the entire voyage." Maxim mused.

"Agreed." In a few minutes we exit the web at the outskirts of the Lantanda system. There we will get into position near the gate and you deactivate the limiter. Once the gate is closed, you activate it again and we try to find some means to contact Lord General van Buyten." Khornat replied

Jarin and Vaughn entered the bridge, escorted by a pair of eldar. Both were visible uneasy around the aliens.

"Gentleman, during this journey you had little to do until now. We are close to entering Lantanda. You will lead us into the asteroid field where we can see the warp gate and we'll do the rest." Maxim said to them.

"As you wish, Rear Admiral." Jarin said.

A few minutes later, the vessel exited the warp space a the edge of the Lantanda system. They engaged the holofields and began their journey to the asteroid field. Maxim could see the glow of the warp eddy and ran his fingers across the icon on the necklace around his neck.

_To be continued. . ._


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: On to close the gate**

As fevered as the battle was, as sudden was its end. Victor Harras was eviscerating another enemy when he noticed the relative silence around him. He had succumbed to his bloodlust so deeply that he forgot everything else around him. The thought elated and concerned him. He prided himself as being devoted to Khorne yet having retained most of his sanity to fight battles with a clear mind for changes.

"My Lord Harras" a voice behind him said. It took all his composure not to turn around and smash his axe into the head of the figure behind him. Instead he slowly turned and saw Rudolf Hartzig, commander of the traitor Imperial guard regiments that defected to his cause when he invaded the weak Imperium. Seeing the look in his lord's eyes, Hartzig continued.

"The enemy has retreated to the north." he said, pointing to the mountains.

"Follow them. We can't allow them to dug in."

In the distance, Victor could see the dust clouds made by the vast number of enemies. He spotted at least three titans with them and suddenly his follow order became more urgent. If these titans could dig in it would become extremly difficult to flush them out.

In less than an hour, his whole army was ready to move. He ordered his units to match the speed of the slowest vehicle and brooded. This was taking too long.

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Gorak the Beautiful swore inwardly as he rode inside his personal Land Raider. The battle against the khornate worshipers didn't went well. During the battle he saw the enemy leader, the one who destroyed his holding and his place among the warlords of Slaanesh. The one who made him fight hard to regain his status.

As his remaining forces went into the mountains, he swore to kill that man once and for all.

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"Lord General, we received astropathic reports from the other subsector commands." said an adjutant to Lord General van Buyten who gestured for him to continue.

"Our forces in Omalgon and Dementia are making good progress, 75 of Omalgon is already liberated due to the low resistance and Dementia is not far behind with 60. Our forces in Kyron report that on all but two planets targeted in the first wave the enemy is leaving their fortifications and heading for their shuttles. We have too few warships in place to prevent these retreats or to shoot them out the sky."

"Any news from our spies in Lantanda?" asked van Buyten.

"Actually yes" came the reply. "Half the planets of this particular sector is already free. Surviving PDF units have waged an underground war on Gastogne, Bernardo, Ibstock II, Zion and Suzano and have freed their respective capitals. All of them report that the occupation forces left the planet except for a token force."

In his head, van Buyten recalled a the star map he memorized before start of the crusade. These six worlds in Lantanda form a slight crescent around the center of Lantanda. If the same happened on the other planets on the outskirts of the sector, all chaos forces could be heading into the center of it – Lantanda. The place, where the warp rift opened and the whole incursion began.

'But what could they be doing?' he thought.

One possibility was that they intended to escape, knowing that the wrath of the Imperium is upon them. Another reason was the fortification of the Lantanda system, holding it until more reinforcements arrive. Or could they have found out about the secret mission that Rear Admiral Macharius was conducting with the inquisiton. If that was true, then Macharius and Khornat were in deep trouble.

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"What can you tell me?" one of them asked.

The voice was nothing more than a hiss but transmitted with a power and authority that any being that was addressed had to respond immediately.

"Master, the lock is very intricate. It is extremly complex and it will take a long time to break it. If it is even possible at all. We can't blast it apart either. The door is made of Adamantium, at least three meters thick. And any forced entry will destroy the price. The same goes with the lock. An ill-prepared or hasted attempt will also activate the safeguard and destroy the price."

The price. An artifact, many millenia old. And no one was even sure what exactly it was. It could be a weapon, a piece of armor, maybe a STC blueprint for something.

"What is necessary to break the lock?" the other one asked.

"Master, we need many psykers. Many, many psykers. And we need one very powerful psyker to channel their energy into the lock so we might open it. A very, very powerful psyker. One of you."

They both looked at the creature. Were it not for its intimate knowledge of the workings of locks, it would already be dead.

"We will get you all the psykers you need. And I will control them" said the one.

"And I will help you" said the other.

The creature looked at them. The twins. Immensely powerful psykers, both of them. Linked together in an eternal bond of chaos. What one feels, the other feels. What one sees, the other sees. They opened the warp rift. They used deceit, disinformation, favors and force to coerce different chaos warlords into an attack on four imperial sectors. All as a ruse to get here. Kurragin. A world where a powerful artifact was stored in a storage vault with one of the hardest and most sophisticated locks ever built.

"But it still could take months or maybe even years to break it. What if the Imperium comes here before then?" the creature asked.

"Let them come. We will be ready."

And with these words, both left the chamber.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Maxim marveled at the eldar's flying skill. They cruised through the asteroid field with a speed Maxim only saw in fighters before. Jarin and Vaughn stood next the the eldar pilot, directing him, finding ways through asteroids seemingly too close together to navigate. They entered the field from the far side of the system, flying between thousands of rocks, their goal still a faint glow in the distance.

"Inquisitor" Maxim said. "What will happen when the gate closes?"

"What do you mean?" came a counterquestion.

"How will it close? Will there be an explosion? Will it just fizz away? It could have a devastating effect on this system, couldn't it?"

"Could be. But I'm sure the you're negating effect on the warp will let it shrink away to nothing."

Maxim wasn't so sure. He couldn't stop thinking that something bad was going to happen.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Snipe?"

Major Hubert Morrison, one of the few survivors of the devastating attack on the fortress went to the sniper, who stood watch at the entrance of the cave base. This base was one of many spread on the Katlandu Island region. It was the last hope for the Imperial forces left alive.

"Any word from the main land?" Hubert asked Snipe, when he reached him.

"The last transmission came nine days ago. The twin hives have fallen shortly after the fortress."

"That means that any reinforcements have to land in the wilderness. There are a few places that can hold large infantry contingents but we'd have to make sure that no chaos forces can attack the landing zones while they disembark. We must coordinate with the the reinforcements when they arrive. How's the astropath?"

"Last time I saw him, he got better." Snipe answered.

The rescue of the fortress' astropath was one of the better things that happened to the ragtag militia and civilian force that reached the island bases. Snipe and Hubert got him before they went to the secret shuttle hangar.

"I don't like this waiting game." Hubert said.

"What other choice do we have?" Snipe asked. "We don't have the transport resources to wage a guerrilla war, even if the enemy hadn't the air superiority. Nor do we have enough ammunition. I doubt that the chaos army has weakly guarded supply depots in the wilderness. They have the fortress, the twin hives and the coastal settlements. The only thing they don't have are these island bases because hopefully they don't know them."

Hubert sighed. 80 of Kurragin was covered by fish rich ocean, the rest was Kurrat, the only continent of Kurragin. The population was concentrated in the twin hives, two almost identical hive cities. One, Bolox, lived from the mining of Adamantium ore, a valuable mineral used in armoring everything, from a tank to a space ship.

The other hive, Galtar, refined the ore mined in Bolox. The gigantic trade spaceport was located here and with it the chance to land massive landers that could carry vast amounts of material – or titans. The other industry of Galtar was the fish industry. The large amounts of raw fish that came from the coastal towns every months were processed here and shipped to the other worlds of the sector.

The coastal plains were littered with small towns, that lived from fishing the rich oceans. Thousands of tonnes of fish were hauled into the transport trains every month. Only a few of the larger towns have landing pads for shuttles but the rest was connected with rails. Hubert knew that the population was still doing the same work, but under the supervision of chaos troops, equipped with whips and other weapons of punishment.

He only hoped that reinforcements would arrive soon or there would surely be nothing left to rescue.

_To be continued_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: The gate is closed**

"What is it?" Maxim asked.

"The eldar saw something happen at the gate. They are maneuvering so we can get a better look." came Khornat's reply.

It took the pilot 30 tense seconds to move around some of the larger asteroids to get a good look. The gate was still several ten thousand kilometers away, a large red smudge on a black carpet lined with white dots.

"There are ships pouring out!" Jarin and Vaughn said in unison.

Maxim, Khornat and the eldar too looked in horror at the number of ships coming out of the rift. One of them bellowed something to Maxim.

"He's asking if, whatever you can do to close the rift, you can do it from here." Khornat translated. "And I know you can."

Khornat answered the eldar and the pilot put the ship in full stop.

"Ask him to get some pictures of the assembled fleet. We need to know what our fleet can expect."

Maxim didn't wait for Khornat but went to the view port. As he looked at Khornat the latter gave a nod. Maxim let out a sigh, reached under his shirt and pressed the little button three times.

The eyes of the Imperator went dark.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. Just as he wanted to turn around to ask Khornat what was wrong, the rift began bending. It shook and started collapsing in on itself like a black hole. A gigantic ship that was just coming through was sheared in half as only one half made a successful transition to the material universe.

As Maxim turned around grinning with the words "That wasn't so bad, wasn't it" already on his lips, something that seemed to be a giant hammer came down on Maxim.

He scantily saw Khornat run to him before everything went black.

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Major Hubert Morrison, the highest ranking military officer left on Kurragin, waited tensely.

"They are coming" said a voice next to him.

It was Snipe, the old sniper whose real name was a mystery to anybody but himself, but with the sharpest eye Hubert had ever seen. With his special issue sniper gun, he could hollow out a diamond two kilometers away.

Now Hubert could see them too. Two old-fashioned skiffs, creating no detectable heat signature and therefore invisible to anything but a direct overflight. They had found the skiffs two months earlier in a cave on the smallest island. But it gave them a way to send scouts on the main land, looking for possible landing places for reinforcements, supply depots for a possible raid and what the enemy was doing.

The skiffs shored up and the four soldiers stepped out, exhausted from their rowing, closed on Hubert and saluted. Hubert returned the salute and shook everyone's hand.

"What did you find out?" he asked them.

One of them stepped forward and cleared his throat.

"We found no supply depots but we watched dozens of supply convoys going to the fortress. When we took a closer look, we saw them build defensive lines. We think, two extensive trench lines seemed to be finished and a third was in construction with every line fifty kilometers away from the other."

"That means, that they plan to hold the fortress." Hubert said to himself. "I don't suppose any of you managed to get a look at the hives, have you?"

"No Sir. It would have taken us weeks to get to the hives."

Hubert dismissed them and mentioned for Snipe to accompany him. They went to the makeshift infirmary where their astropath was located, still sick from the attack on the fortress. He turned his head and looked at them as they entered the room.

"No, I still can't communicate. There are very powerful psykers on this planet and they would block and find me as soon as I try" he answered their unspoken question.

"I thought you couldn't read minds?" Hubert asked.

"I can't" came the answer. "But you visited me the twice already and every time you asked me the same question."

"I don't suppose you know what is happening at the fortress, do you?" Snipe asked.

"No, I do not."

"Well then, get rest. We'll need you as soon as imperial reinforcements arrive."

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The mighty titan _Flamma Ultrix_ wailed as it stumbled backwards after being hit repeatedly by plasma blasts. The enemy titan, its armament resembling a Death Bringer variant and firmly entrenched in a bulwark that went up to its waist, compensated the _Ultrix's_ movement with its arm laser and fired again on the weakened titan. The laser blast hit the arm at the shoulder joint and destroyed an activator, locking the arm in place.

Victor Harras clenched his teeth in frustration as he witnessed the damage done to his oldest ally. With the mighty plasma annihilator locked in a position facing down, it was useless against the enemy, especially the entrenched titans. After the _Ultrix _took two more plasma blasts, that ripped away the armor over its left carapace and the shield over the right leg Victor had no choice.

"Harras to _Flamma Ultrix_. Retreat out of range of the enemy guns. You're hurt and in no position to combat the enemy."

The _Ultrix_ wailed again and took a heavy step forward.

"Please old friend. I don't want to lose you." Victor said quietly into the vox. The titan turned its head towards him and its glowing eyes looked down on him for what seemed to be an eternity. Then it took a heavy step backwards and began to turn around.

Suddenly a large cloud appeared from the second titan. It seemed to carry a special multi-launcher, spitting out hundreds of smaller rockets in one blast. These rockets normally weren't a threat to a titan and only deadly to ground troops and vehicles but the _Flamma Ultrix_ was void of shields and its armor was ripped in a dozen places or, particular on its left carapace, more memory than fact.

Victor watched in horror as the rocket swarm closed on the _Flamma Ultrix_. Before it hit, one of his remaining Banelords stepped in the line of fire and let its void shields take the brunt of the attack. Victor breathed a sigh of relief as the _Ultrix_ reached a relatively safe distance.

He recalled most of his forces from the attack. Too many of them have thrown themselves against the enemy bulwark, consumed in bloodlust, only to be cut to pieces by the defenders in the treacherous ground.

Victor looked in the sky and cursed. His fleet and the enemy ships were effectively equal in strength and numbers and were keeping each other away from orbit. That ruled out orbital bombardment, which could mean an easy way of settling things. With somewhat heavy hearts, Victor ordered his artillery and mobile repair facilities to be deployed. This fight would prove to be a long drown-out campaign.

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"Masters. What is it?" asked the creature.

"The gate was closed." one said.

"By means unknown to us" said the other.

"Did the cargo make it out before?" asked the creature.

"Yes. They will be here within four weeks. Then we can begin." both said in unison and left the chamber.

_To be continued_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: The price revealed**

Maxim was in a black place. He couldn't see, he couldn't breath and he couldn't move. His hearing consisted only of white noise. When he concentrated, he could make out words in the static.

"...careful with him... ...take him... ...base ...wake up..."

He didn't know if he imagined it and he couldn't pin the sound of the voice to a known person. Before he could hear anything else the white noise came back and assaulted his remaining sense organ.

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Khornat watched as the two pilots laid Maxim on a stretcher the eldar hat produced somewhere.

"Be careful with him." he said to the two. "He might have saved this sector. In a few days, we will meet with an inquisitorial vessel. From there I will take him with me to my base of operation in this sector."

One of the eldar spoke to Khornat.

"What did he say?" asked Vaughn

"He asked if he will be okay. I told him that, from the looks of it, he is in some kind of coma. I have a good medical staff at my base, they will care for him."

"Will he wake up?" asked Jarin.

"I have no idea. I hope so. But now you have to prepare for your departure. As I recall, Lantanda is your home, right?"

Both men nodded.

"Good. You will be transferred back to the system defense force but considering the beating they took during the initial invasion I guess you will re-enter them with a higher rank." he told them with a smile.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Lord General?" said one of his adjutants after he entered the captains office. Van Buyten was reading one of Maxims books, written by his most famous ancestor, Lord Solar Macharius. Other books were scattered over the desk, most of them being books about fleet operations and space tactics.

Another open book was a personal account of the Gothic War and its battles, written by none other than Lord Admiral Ravensburg, the supreme commander of Battlefleet Gothic during this dire time when Abbadon waged his 12th Black Crusade against the Imperium.

"What is it?" van Buyten asked

"We received status reports from Admirals Faris, Hauclir and McNeil." the adjutant said.

"And?"

"Admiral Faris reports that the planets she freed had either none or only a token defense force. Survivors were reporting that most of the occupying forces left the planets some time ago.

Admiral Hauclir reports the same thing, planets devoid of enemy troops or with a very small occupying force. Both have yet to meet a strong resistance.

Admiral McNeil reports that his forces have engaged strong chaos battlegroups in the Mirach and Ashkum systems. He says the fleets are even matched and after the initial clash they are circling each other. He also found markings of all four chaos powers on several ships. He asks for reinforcements, otherwise he can't assure a victory."

Van Buyten drummed his fingers against his chin. Other Admirals would have boasted how they would crush the enemy within this or that time. But McNeil asked for reinforcements without shame.

"You said that he saw markings of all four chaos powers on those ships?" van Buyten asked his adjutant.

"Yes Sir." came the reply.

"That could be the reason for the lack of resistance in the other subsectors. New orders for Admirals Faris and Hauclir. One third of their fleet is to head to Subsector Kyron. Faris' ships are to go to Mirach, Hauclirs to Ashkum. Once they secured the rest of their respective subsectors, they are to send half of their remaining fleets to McNeil."

"Will we provide reinforcements, Sir?"

"No, not yet. We'll travel to Lantanda first. If the gate is really closed we will split the fleet up and sent reinforcements as well."

With a wave he dismissed the adjutant and went back to the books.

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_He swam through blackness. He couldn't tell how long he was here, he lost every sense of time. He could almost taste the dark. It was as if someone pushed a large cushion on his body. Not dangerous, not life-threatening but unpleasant. And every now and then he could hear voices in the dark, far away, from every direction._

"What … with him … don't … but … care … him … important … owe … great debt."

_Every time he wanted to fix the position the words came from, they came from a different location. He sensed the madness growing around him. With every bit of willpower he had, he focused on the things he knew. He was Maximilian Macharius. Rear Admiral in His Glorious Navy. 28 years old. An Untouchable. That single last thought pushed the coming madness away. Whatever was happening to him, he wasn't succumbed by Chaos._

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"The psykers will arrive in one week. What is the status of the preparations?" asked one twin.

"It is finished, masters." answered the wretched creature. "Once the psykers are here, we can begin."

The twins looked around. On the walls were row upon row of pods, similar to the sarcophagus in a dreadnought. Dozens of tubes came from each one, that would later be used for providing nourishment for the psykers and the removal of waste. In one week, one thousand and five hundred psykers will be laying in these pods, and combine their powers to open the adamantium door that separated them from their goal.

"But masters, once we've begun, nothing must disturb the psykers. If one is disturbed, it could feedback to the mindlink and destroy everthing." said the creature.

"Don't worry. The fortifications are well underway. And the forces of the corpse emperor are being kept at bay elsewhere. It will be a while before they even get to this planet, let alone close enough to this fortress to disturb us. And even if they actually come close enough, we have a surprise for them." said the second twin.

"Masters? Did he really agree?" asked the creature.

"Yes." both said in unison.

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"Inquisitor. Welcome back. Was your mission a success?"

"Yes Stephie, it was. But it came at a price." said Khornat as two servitors rolled Maxim past them.

"What happened to him?" she asked.

"I don't know. He deactivated his limiter and the gate closed pretty much in the way we expected. But shortly after it collapsed, so did he. His life signs are strong and his brain functions are in a state that suggests a deep sleep rather than a coma."

"Why did you bring him here? Wouldn't he be better off in a hospital?"

"We have everything here to care for him. And I sense that he will be very important in the near future. And I feel personally obliged. We all owe him a great debt."

Both watched as the servitors rolled Maxims stretcher into the infirmary. Finally, Khornat broke the silence.

"Did Anteus find something out about the fortress?" he asked.

"As a matter of fact, he did." replied Stephie. "But he wouldn't tell me why, because you ordered him to tell noone but you." she said with a hint of anger in her voice.

"Yeah, sorry about that, you know he follows orders to the letter. I'll see him right away. Join me" said Khornat, turning around.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Victor Harras saw the artillery finally in place. A long line of Earthshakers on basilisk mounts stood ready to unleash hell upon the barricaded slaaneshi forces. Victor's Whirlwinds would have to stay behind since their maximum range was inside the range of the enemy titans

He turned around and looked at the _Flamma Ultrix. _A change has come to the titan since the events on Harkanos' prison planet. Back then he couldn't get past the knee joints and since then the titan crew wouldn't let anyone inside. Right now, rogue tech priests were swarming on the shoulder joint, where the arm was still hanging loose after the plasma hit.

The titan seemed to sense Victors stare and turned its head around to him, knocking two tech artisans off their feet and sending them screaming to their deaths. The big green eyes of the titan seemed to burn into his soul and a low grumble emanated from its bowels as if the titan felt hunger.

With a sudden realization, Victor Harras saw, what has changed the titan.

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"Anteus, what have you got for me?" Khornat asked his savant.

Anteus, almost 200 years old, with artificial legs, arms and organs that were more machine than flesh, he looked almost like a tech priest. But he was a loyal friend and could find any kind of information that was necessary. Khornats inquisitorial library was vast and contained more than 80.000 books, data slates, scrolls and other things.

"I found out what is in the fortress of Kurragin."

"Yes?" Khornat asked after a few seconds of silence.

"It's a material. Several thousand years old. A material that, if properly used in a weapon of sorts, is capable of destroying the very essence of demons that were summoned to our plane of existence." Anteus explained.

"Dear God-Emperor." Stephie breathed involuntarily.

"Yes dear. "Anteus continued with a hint of annoyance. "Inquisitor Ramman discovered it on a xenos hunt in the halo stars of Segmentum Ultima. When he discovered its properties, he locked it away. His records are under inquisitiorial seal so noone really knows because nobody looked."

"And right now, Chaos forces hold this fortress no doubt with the goal of obtaining this material. We must recapture the fortress at all costs, before they are finished." said Khornat.

_To be continued_


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Hope and Setbacks**

The barrage had continued for weeks. His troops were becoming more and more frustrated and bloodthirsty due to the lack of close combat. Victor already lost a third of his host to defections when entire units went berserk and charged either into the enemy death zone or attacked their fellow troops.

The rest of his army was disciplined enough to keep their bloodlust in check like he did. Even his fellow Chaos Space Marines, some of them Khornate Berserks, stayed disciplined. The Berserks were regularly letting off steam on prisoners, that were captured from towns far and wide and who had dug the trenches.

Siege Warfare. Something anyone, who devoted his life to the mighty Lord of Skulls, hated. The inability to spill the blood of the enemy in close combat, with blades, hands or teeth. But Victor also knew that to attack the slaaneshi forces was suicide. Their remaining two titans were firmly protected, only their upper carapaces, arms and heads visible.

The two plasma cannons on the left titan spilled plasma fire from time to time, each time failing to reach his guns. With every impact he could feel the electric discharge even through his armor. Several times now some of his artillery operators were electrocuted when a discharge from an impacting plasma shot conducted through the earthshakers while they were touching it in some way.

As Victor looked onwards, he saw that work on the next trench line was going ahead of schedule. He wished he had some Iron Warriors with him. Still, he fought with them on several occasions and Victor was able to learn. The trench was being dug in a way that it was hidden from view from the slaaneshi side. 'Soon' he thought, directed to the enemy commander. 'Once those titans or their weapons are gone, you will be mine. Then you will pay for this delay.'

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Gorak the Beautiful stood on a high rock, observing the scenery that unfolded in the distance with his augmented eye sight. He could see the trench line of the enemy, the dugouts for the earthshaker cannons that regularly spit out shells that impacted harmlessly against the rocks. Only a few landed close to his own trenches to do any real damage. It was more a nuisance than a threat.

He cast a more doubtful look to the Emperor titan that was being repaired farther away, way out of range of his own guns but still in sight. Something about this titan was strange indeed, the way it moved or had sounded when it had lost its arm to a well-placed plasma shot from one of his own titans.

He turned his head to look at his titans. Having only remote similarities with the imperial Reaver pattern left, one had two massive plasma cannons as arms and not much else. The other had rocket launchers as its main weaponry on its shoulders and left arm, with only two laser blasters in the right arm, and these were damaged beyond his ability to repair in the field. Worse, he was running out of ammo for the launchers..

He knew, that he was safe here. The enemy already tried an attack several times and had been wiped out from a distance. And he still had plenty of ammunitions for his own artillery and troops.

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"Major! Major Morrison!"

He was shaken awake rudely. 'Damn' he tought 'can't a man sleep for at least a few hours here'. He opened his eyes and turned around to see his adjutant, still shaking him. Any thought of rebuke died in his mouth when he saw the gleam of hope in the eyes of his adjutant.

"What is it Wesson?"

"Sir! Come outside, quick! They are here!"

Before he could ask who "They" were, Wesson was out already. He got up, put on his uniform and walked out his tent. As he looked up, he saw why Corporal Wesson was so excited.

The sky was red with the entry burns of atmospheric craft. He pulled out his binoculars and looked through. The sight that greeted him filled him with excitement as well. The sky was full of dropships. And the best thing was the aquila on the side of everyone of them.

The Imperium was finally here.

Morrison knew what he had to do now. He turned towards his soldiers and started barking orders.

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With a silent scream, a wound was ripped into space, looking like a mouth. Ships were coming from the opening as if being vomited out. They quickly got in formation, cruisers taking position around the battleships and battlecruisers while escorts took respective positions around the cruisers.

"Status?" Lord General van Buyten asked.

"No enemy targets in close range. Sensor sweep of the system commenced." came a reply.

Van Buyten waited a few tense minutes.

"No enemy contacts."

"Send escort squadron Flying Tigers on a system sweep. They are to make full speed towards the position of the warp gate. Report anything, and I mean anything." van Buyten ordered.

The comm officer spoke into the microphone of his headset. A few seconds later, the engines of three Falchion class frigates flared up and the ships sped away.

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Victor Harras roared as he decapitated his foe with a back swing of his chainsword and a fountain of blood came out of the body of his enemy. He looked around and saw the carnage the Berserks caused. Hundreds of bodies littered the ground of the trench. A whole section of trench had collapsed when a stray shot had hit the stacked artillery ammunition.

All of his remaining berserks were dead as well as all of the artillery crews plus about 200 soldiers. His berserks had finally snapped as their lust for blood overcame them. They fell on his other troops like a pack of ambulls on baby grox.

He turned to one of his fellow chaos marines.

"Why didn't they let off steam with the slaves as they usually did?" he asked.

"We don't have any left, my lord." came the answer.

"Then why weren't the pits replenished?" he asked angrily.

"Because we depopulated the whole continent already and we don't have the aerial resources to bring them in from across the planet. The only ones left are the one digging the front trench right now." the marine said, his head bowed.

Victor bit back a curse. Now he had to hurry the slaves up and have his soldiers dig as well to speed things up. He couldn't get air resources down here, because he needed them for the stalemate in space. This endeavor proved to be very frustrating indeed.

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"So, what your are saying is, that the chaos forces want to steal something, that will hurt them more then us? Stephi asked.

"Yes, my dear." Anteus replied.

"Then why don't we let them have it? It won't hurt us directly."

"Because" Khornat interjected angrily "if we let them have it, one side will gain a measure of supremacy. If one side of chaos is able to destroy demons, it might get to threaten others and force them to do their bidding. Imagine a tzeentchian host that can call on Bloodletters or Daemonettes whenever they like without having to broker an agreement before."

"But Anteus said that this stuff works only outside the warp. Demons inside have nothing to fear." Stephi answered.

"Darling" Anteus replied. "Nobody knows if it works inside the warp, because nobody could test it."

"Exactly. We simply cannot take the chance. I'll check on Maximilian, I have the feeling, that we we will need him soon."

"For what?" Stephi asked.

"To negate the psychic locks and to claim this material for ourselves."

_To be continued_


End file.
